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For more than 100 years the Society of Professional Journalists has been dedicated to encouraging a climate in which journalism can be practiced more freely and fully, stimulating high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism and perpetuating a free press.

About the Foundation

Since its founding in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation has promoted excellence and ethics in journalism. The SDX Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that supports the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

Excellence in Journalism 2015Sept 18-20, 2015 – Orlando

Excellence in Journalism is the national journalism conference of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association. Join us in September in Orlando for training, networking, workshops and more!

SPJ News

SPJ Blogs: Newest Posts

Quill Headlines

Journalist's Toolbox

@SPJ_Tweets

Connect with SPJ

SPJ on Facebook

Upcoming Eventsand Deadlines

Become an SPJ Member

For more than 100 years the Society of Professional Journalists has been dedicated to encouraging a climate in which journalism can be practiced more freely and fully, stimulating high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism and perpetuating a free press.

About the Foundation

Since its founding in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation has promoted excellence and ethics in journalism. The SDX Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that supports the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

Excellence in Journalism 2015Sept 18-20, 2015 – Orlando

Excellence in Journalism is the national journalism conference of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association. Join us in September in Orlando for training, networking, workshops and more!

FOI CommitteeThis committee is the watchdog of press freedoms across the nation. It relies upon a network of volunteers in each state organized under Project Sunshine. These SPJ members are on the front lines for assaults to the First Amendment and when lawmakers attempt to restrict the public's access to documents and the government's business. The committee often is called upon to intervene in instances where the media is restricted.

Freedom of Information Committee Chair

David Cuillier
Director and Associate Professor
School of Journalism
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Work: 520-626-9694Email @DavidCuillierBio (click to expand)
David Cuillier, Ph.D., is director of the University of Arizona School of Journalism, where he researches and teaches access to public records, and is co-author with Charles Davis of "The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records." He served as FOI chair 2007-11 before becoming a national officer and serving as SPJ president in 2013-14.

Before entering academia, he was a newspaper reporter and editor in the Pacific Northwest. He has testified before Congress on FOI issues twice and provides newsroom training in access on behalf of SPJ. His long-term goal is to see a unified coalition of journalism organizations fighting for press freedom and funded through an endowed FOI war chest.

 FOI “Q &A.” These narratives (basics,
the courts, privacy,
your life) provide an overview to Freedom
of Information concepts and laws. These sections can be reprinted verbatim
as editorials or commentaries.

 FOI, the news and the community. This section includes a snapshot
of how important FOI is to daily news
coverage. Also included is a list of “Red
Flags” – warning signs of restricted access that should be
in the minds of journalists and other advocates of public access.

 FOI “A to Z.” To encourage more reporting on FOI issues,
included is an alphabetically-organized
list of specific subjects where FOI laws apply. Think of it as an FOI
“story tip sheet.”

 FOI resources. “Open Doors” is itself a doorway to other
FOI resources that offer more detailed and specific information.When you
need FOI resources, let “Open Doors” be your gateway.

 “Open Doors” logos and icons. All “Open
Doors” logos and icons may be downloaded and reproduced to make
it easy for visual media to flag FOI-related stories.

There’s no question that Freedom of Information – the right of
Americans to have access to government records and meetings – is one of
the most important concepts of democracy in the United States. There’s
also no question that FOI is one of the most important areas of interest for
journalists and journalism organizations, as well as for other First Amendment
advocates.

In my years as a broadcast journalist, an advocate and organizer of FOI in
Montana, a state “Project Sunshine” chair for the Society of Professional
Journalists and, finally, as SPJ’s national Freedom of Information Committee
chair since 1999, I have found that people’s inquiries about FOI fall
into three categories:

How FOI laws work. (And the distinctions between state and federal
laws.)
 How FOI laws or concepts apply to specific circumstances or subjects.
 Where more information on FOI can be found.

In creating this Freedom of Information resource, we at SPJ tried to address
those three areas. In addition, we had to come to grips with some practical
issues we knew would surround the finished product:

 It should be basic enough for people new to FOI, yet still be useful to
FOI veterans.
 Within the journalism and media sector, it should be relevant to upper level
managers, including publishers and broadcast station owners, as well as to
front-line reporters, editors and news directors.
 Outside of journalism, it should be relevant to civic organizations, “good
government” groups, politicians and government officials, even average
citizens without any previous experience with the concept of FOI.

What you have before you is the result of SPJ’s deliberations. Our ultimate
goal in producing this project is to increase the public visibility of FOI issues,
whether through journalism or other means. “Open Doors” has been
organized by sections. We hope you will find value in all of them. However,
even if you find just one particular section useful, that’s OK.

So, read the material, share it with your co-workers and associates and, most
important, use it!

What would our profession do without the ability to access information held
by government agencies? In other words, what would we do without state and federal
Freedom of Information laws?

Every day through newspapers, magazines, news broadcasts, Internet sites, newsletters
and other informational media, Americans learn about the operations of their
government. Yet many Americans do not realize how much of that information comes
from government documents, records and meetings.

In the best of all possible worlds public access to such information would be
a given. As James Madison recognized, “A popular government without popular
information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to Farce or Tragedy
or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean
to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.”
In reality, the media and citizens’ groups have fought long and hard to
gain access to government records and meetings. Experience has taught us that
open government is a “use it or lose it” proposition. Unless we
continue to assert our right, the public’s right of access, we will lose
it.

As a member of America’s news media, you are in the best position to educate
and inform Americans about the importance of their Freedom of Information laws.
You have the ability not only to report information gathered under FOI laws,
but to tell your audience where you got it, how you got it and why continued
public access to it is important.

I’m pleased that the Society of Professional Journalists has created the
Open Doors project to help all American media carry this important message to
readers, listeners, viewers and Web-surfers.

This is not a project specifically aimed at one medium or another. SPJ has worked
to make this project as inclusive and useful as possible for all media.

Please take the time to review this information, to share it with your staff
and to use the ideas and resources here to enhance your coverage of your community,
your state and your country.

Being knowledgeable about FOI is critical for us as journalists and information
providers; and it is equally critical for the citizens who turn to us when they
need to know.

Founded in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that
those who carry on the tradition of a free press are prepared for the challenge.
Its goal is to support the educational programs of the Society of Professional
Journalists and to serve the professional needs of journalists and students
pursuing careers in journalism.

Thanks also to the directors and executive officers of the Society of Professional
Journalists for their support of this concept.

The following individuals from within SPJ also made important contributions
to the development of this project.